Condenser



March 6, 1934. A. H. BAER CONDENSER Filed June 4, 1952 Qwuentoz AlvinHBaer' Patented Mar. 6, 1934 CONDENSER Alvin H. Baer, Waynesboro, Pa., assignor to Frick Company, Waynesboro, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 4, 1932, Serial No. 615,414

3 Claims.

This invention relates to condensers for the refrigerating plant of refrigerating cars or other moving vehicles and its object is to provide an air cooled condenser so arranged as to make it substantially independent of air currents created by the movement of the vehicle in either direction.

A further object is to provide an operating motor for the cooling fan which may be operated from a source of current on the vehicle itself or from some other source as for example the station or city current at which the car may be stationed.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the description which follows:

Referring to the accompanying drawing which is made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, 7

Figure l is a plan view showing the compressor and condenser mounted under a refrigerating car, and

Figure 2, a vertical section through the condenser.

In condensers on refrigerating cars as heretofore constructed it has been customary to posi tion the condenser so that it was cooled by air currents supplied by the movement of the train.

When the car was at a standstill, however, no currents would be created. When fans or other mechanical apparatus were used for supplying cooling air to the condenser the current would be increased when the car was moving in one di rection and of course decreased when moving in the other direction. These arrangements therefore were unsatisfactory.

'My invention provides a casing positioned laterally of the car in which casing is mounted a plurality of heat exchange units and a fan is provided for delivering cooling air into contact with the heat exchange units. By blowing currents of air laterally of the direction of the movement of the train the currents are unaffected by the movement of the train in either direction.

In the drawing numeral 10 indicates the floor of a refrigerating car or beam or beams to which is attached a support 11 and a casing 12 is secured to the support 11. Within the casing are positioned brackets 13 upon which is mounted a fan 14 driven by either of two motors 15 and 16. One of these motors may be designed so as to be operated by current from a battery or generator on the car itself and the other will be such as may be operated by current supplied from the station at which the car may be stopped as When run on a siding. One of the motors therefore may be a direct current motor and the other an alternating current motor. The invention, however, is not limited to any particular type of operating motors. The inlet to the casing 12 is provided with a number of shutters 1'7. Condenser units 18 are mounted in the end of the casing opposite the fan. Baflie plates 19 are provided for directing the air through and about the heat exchange units 18.

Air-cooled condensers are most effective when the air has to travel a very short distance over the condensing or cooling surface; air having a low specific heat is quickly warmed when in contact with these surfaces, and after that is useless as a cooling medium. It would be unwise therefore to build a large condenser such as this and blow the air directly through it, because of the greater amount of power necessary to create the velocity required for putting a sufficient volume through, and even then the first part of such a condenser would do most of the work while the parts on the side, next to the outlet, would do very little. It is necessary to use a number of separate smaller condensers and then divide the air current to give each of these units a separate air supply.

A compressor 20 is suitably mounted beneath and secured to the car. A pipe 22 delivers compressed refrigerant from the compressor to the condenser and a line 21 conducts condensed refrigerant from the condenser to an evaporator not shown. Gas from the evaporator is drawn through suction line 23 into the compressor. Mo-

tors 24 and 25 may be provided for operating the 1 compressor. As in the case of the motors for operating the cooling fan one of these motors also may be designed for operation by a source of current on the car itself and the other for operation by current supplied from the station or town at which the car may be stored. It may be desired therefore to have one of the motors a direct current motor of low voltage and the other an alternating current motor thus adapting it for 4 operation by the usual alternating current of a town. The pipe 22 in substance is a manifold which is connected to each of the several condenser units so as to supply compressed refrigerant to each of the units where the refrigerant is liquefied and delivered through the line 21 to the evaporators not shown. From the description and explanation given it will be apparent that this arrangement of condensing apparatus insures a constant supply of cooling fluid regardless of the direction of movement of the train or car.

While the invention has been described as applied to a refrigerating car it should be understood that the word car is used for purposes of convenience as the device may readily be applied to any type of movable vehicle such for example as refrigerated trucks.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in my device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore I do not lim t myself to what is shown in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated by the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A condenser adapted to be positioned on a moving vehiclecomprising a casing open at both ends, a fan mounted in one end of the casing, a motor for operating said fan, a plurality of condenser coils mounted in the other end of the casing, each set of coils being connected to upper and lower headers which headers lie substantially parallel with the direction of movement of the vehicle and each coil lying in a plane substantially at a right angle to the said headers, a baffle plate positioned between each coil and the adjacent coil, said baffle plates being positioned at an angle to the plane of the coil for directing air through the coil, substantially as set forth.

2. An air cooled condenser for refrigerating cars comprising a casing positioned laterally of the car and open at both ends, a fan mounted in one end, a motor for driving said fan, a plurality of condenser coils mounted in the other end of said casing, a pair of headers positioned substantially parallel with the direction of movement of the car, said coils being connected to these headers, the coils lying in planes substantially at right angles to the headers, a baifie plate positioned obliquely to the plane of the coils and adapted to direct air through the coils, substantially as set forth.

3. An air cooled condenser for refrigerating cars comprising a casing positioned laterally of the car and open at both ends, a fan mounted in one end, a motor for driving said fan, a plurality of condenser coils mounted in the other end of said casing, a pair of headers positioned substantially parallel with the direction of movement of the car, said coils being connected to these headers, the coils lying in planes substantially at right angles to the headers, a bafile plate positioned obliquely to the plane of the coils and adapted to direct air through the coils, said casing being positioned beneath the floor of the car, substantially as set forth.

A. H. BAER. 

